Shopping carts have long and extensively been utilized in supermarkets and the like. One of the carts which has been utilized for many years employs an upwardly opening basket supported on a wheeled base, which basket typically employs front, side and bottom walls which are rigidly formed from wire, with the side walls typically being in tapered relationship to permit the baskets of like carts to nest one within the other. To permit such nesting, the rear of the basket is closed by a rear gate which is hingedly supported adjacent its upper edge, with the lower edge of the gate when in the closed position being abutted against a rear cross wire associated with the basket bottom wall. This gate, which also normally supports thereon a baby seat, swings inwardly and upwardly into the basket to permit the front end of a second cart basket to nest inside the basket of the first-mentioned cart. The rear gate is hence supported solely by the hinge at the upper edge thereof. This necessarily results in the basket having a limited amount of side sway which, while it does not significantly affect the strength of the basket, has nevertheless created an undesirable "feel" when the cart is in use. Typical carts of this general construction are illustrated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,890,057, 2,891,801 and 3,713,358.
In an attempt to eliminate this side sway, one cart has recently incorporated a structure for confining the rear gate when in its closed position. This confining structure comprises a pair of abutment members secured to the bottom wall of the basket at the rear edge thereof, which abutment members are disposed directly adjacent the opposite side walls to sidewardly confine the lower edge of the gate therebetween when the latter is in its closed position. These abutment members, which resemble inverted cups, are large and bulky and, when mounted on the cart, create an unsightly appearance. Further, the required use of two of these members not only increases the cost of material and manufacture, but also the cost of assembly. These abutment members also create additional cracks and crevices, particularly adjacent the side walls of the basket, which collect dirt and make cleaning of the basket more difficult.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a shopping cart having an improved anti-sway structure associated with the rear gate of the basket, which car overcomes many of the disadvantages associated with the prior cart described above. More specifically, the improved cart of this invention has an improved anti-sway bracket secured to the rear cross wire of the basket bottom wall for sidewardly confining the central vertical wires of the rear gate when in its closed position. This provides substantially increased side strength and prevents, or substantially minimizes, side sway or racking of the basket. This bracket comprises a single wire element which has a shape resembling a "W" and is suitably welded to the rear cross wire of the basket bottom wall. This permits the anti-sway structure to be manufactured and assembled on the basket efficiently and economically, and the resulting structure does not detract from the appearance of the basket. In fact, the bracket is substantially non-noticeable when mounted on the cart. At the same time, this structure does not create any significant dirt-collection problems and still permits the basket to be easily cleaned.